Our people

Want to get to know us better?

We’re run by a voluntary board of highly dedicated, motivated individuals who want to make a difference – and share their unique breadth of experience, skills and expertise for the good of everyone.

This team oversees our strategic direction and makes sure we work in the best interests of all our customers. It includes tenants and professionals with experience from across a range of areas.

Our day to day operations are led by our Chief Executive, supported by our Executive and Leadership teams.

Board members
  • Iain Thompson

    Chair

    Iain read Maths at Cambridge before joining ICL (International Computers Ltd) as a graduate trainee. He worked in software development in London 7 years before moving back to Scotland. He has worked with a number of clients in the Financial Services sector and has a voluntary role with BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT.

    Iain joined Board in June 2012.

  • Tom Roehricht

    Vice Chair

    Tom joined the Board in May 2016, was appointed Chair of the Group Risk and Audit Committee in February 2018 and was appointed Vice Chair in September 2019. Tom has an Honours Degree in Mathematics and a Certified Diploma in Accountancy and Finance. He started his career in the Marketing department of Cadbury Schweppes and progressed in a number of blue-chip companies through sales and general management and has run a number of SMEs. More recently he has been a self-employed management consultant working in a variety of industries in both the private and public sectors.

  • David McIntosh

    David is former CEO of Menzies Distribution and an experienced investor, Chair, Non-Executive Director and Trustee.  He is Investor Director with ESM Investments, Chairman at Sharein and Distrify Media, Non-Executive Director at Beezer Apps and Residual Barrier Technology and Trustee at Community Integrated Care.

    David joined the Board in February 2019.

  • Pam Russell

    Pam is a qualified accountant with over 30 years’ experience in housing. She comes with 15 years’ experience as a Board member of a national Housing Association for Older people, six years of which she was chair.  In addition to her Viewpoint role, she is Chair of Carers Action Midlothian Group, a Board member of Vocal, which supports Carers across Midlothian, and a Board member of the Midlothian Integration Joint Board, which is responsible for ensuring the modernisation and integration of health and social care is properly achieved.

    Pam joined the Board in September 2018.

  • Stuart Roy McIvor

    Roy joined the Board in September 2022. Roy hails from Edinburgh where he now lives in a Viewpoint property.

    He previously served on the Boards of two housing associations in Glasgow and Orkney.

    His main career was as a police officer in London where he witnessed very poor housing conditions. He strongly feels that good affordable housing is linked to health and wellbeing. Roy served during the latter part of his career as a Royalty Protection Officer based at Buckingham Palace. On returning to Edinburgh he became an elected member with City of Edinburgh Council. He was on the Housing and Social Care Committee.

    In recent years he obtained a BA (Open) Degree from The Open University where he specialised in English Literature and Middle East politics.

     

  • Stuart Robertson

    Stuart has over 40 years’ experience working in social work / social care, both within local authority and the voluntary sector, over 20 years at a senior / executive level. He is an experienced leader who has supported several organisations through operational and cultural change.  In a previous role he led the organisation to be the first in Scotland to achieve Investing in People (Platinum) as well as achieving the Health and Well-Being award and Investing in Young People award during the same assessment.

    He is passionate that care and support should be delivered in a way that enables those being supported to be in control, to have choice enabling them to live full and active lives, continuing to pursue hobbies and interest of earlier years, engaging in activities of their specific choice.

  • Jack Clyne

    Jack graduated from Napier College of Science and Technology with a Diploma in Environmental Science in June 1971 thereafter, passing the professional interview of the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland in October of the same year. Jack then embarked on a career in Local Government spanning 38 years, eventually taking early retirement in 2005.

    At retirement, Jack was a Principal Officer responsible for managing a small team of Environmental Health Officers and Technical Officers within a Local Authority where his duties were multifarious and he gained experience in all aspects of Environmental Health.

    Jack considers himself a good listener with a common sense approach. He will listen to all sides of a constructive dialogue before making a decision and hopes to contribute to policy and decision-making. 

    Jack joined the Board in March 2021. He feels privileged to be a member of Viewpoint’s Board and being involved in ensuring better outcomes for our Tenants.

  • Lee Parry

    Lee Parry is a Procurement Specialist with a background in technology and sustainability. Lee currently holds the role of Group Procurement Manager for a Public Benefit organisation which secures the heart of the UK internet. 

    Lee has significant experience in both technology and sustainability projects. 

    In addition to his procurement background, Lee is also an accomplished and award winning IT Project Manager. Lee is also an Elected Member of Council for BCS the Chartered Institute for Computing.

    Lee joined the Board in March 2022.

Executive team
  • Jean Gray

    CEO

    Jean joined Viewpoint in April 2019 as CEO leading a team of approximately 330 staff across a range of housing, property, care and support services. She has overall responsibility for the day to day operation of the business and reports to the Board who oversee the strategic direction of the Association.

    Jean was previously Operations Director at Berwickshire Housing Association managing housing, asset management; development and care and has over 25 years of relevant experience in Local Authority, NHS and Social Housing always with a focus on delivering excellent customer care with a person-centred approach

    Jean is a Corporate Member of the Chartered Institute of Housing; a Corporate Member of the Institute of Leadership & Management and a Leadership Fellow at St George’s House, Windsor.

    She has also served as a Board Member for the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and Scottish Housing Network and was 6 years as Vice-Chair of Youth Borders.

  • Esther Wilson

    Director of Housing & Care

    Esther has 20 years’ experience working in the housing sector in a variety of roles in both England and Scotland.  She spent the first 19 years of her career in local government working first as a strategy officer and then leading teams responsible for strategic planning for all aspects of housing, facilitating delivery of new build affordable housing both through partners and direct delivery of new build council housing, and operational private sector housing services.

    Latterly she was responsible for both strategy and operational delivery of economic development activities, including contributing to the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal.

    Esther joined Viewpoint in January 2018 as Director of People and Place.

  • Howard Vaughan

    Director of Finance & Business Support / Company Secretary

    After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1990 Howard spent the early part of his career as Head of Finance and Administration for a UK wide firm of financial advisers. He then moved into the drinks industry as Finance Director and then Managing Director of a national independent manufacturing and wholesaling company.

    More recently Howard has worked in the third sector at director level for two national children and young people charities before joining Viewpoint early in 2017.

  • Tom Hainey

    Director of Assets

    Tom has worked in senior asset and housing management leadership roles for a variety of housing organisations from the Highlands of Scotland to the South West of England over his nearly four decades in the sector.

    He has served as Director of Asset Management for four different housing associations before joining Viewpoint in November 2021. His role includes operational and strategic leadership of all property related services from response repairs and safety compliance through to retrofit and development.

    Tom brings considerable experience and a record of success in helping housing organisations to organise and improve their services making sure that they are clearly focused on improving homes and services for customers while having a definite strategic view of future priorities.

    Tom is a Town & Regional Planning graduate from the University of Dundee, has a post-graduate Diploma in Housing Studies, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing and Member of the Institute of Asset Management.

Leadership team
  • David Aitken

    Head of Finance

    David has been with Viewpoint since 2010. He first joined as Senior Finance Officer, then Finance Team Leader and in January 2022 was appointed Head of Finance.

    David is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

    In his previous employment, David worked as an Accounts and Finance Officer for a charity running a UNESCO World Heritage Site, visitor attraction and hotel.

  • Esther Bathgate

    Head of Care

    Esther joined Viewpoint in December 2022. She is a Registered Nurse with 17 years' experience working in Social Health Care. She has worked with people providing palliative care and end of life care, supported older frail people with nursing care needs, and supported people living with dementia in care home settings.


    Esther also has qualifications in Leadership and Management, Palliative Care Studies and she is currently working on an Advanced Dementia Care Practice qualification. Her areas of experience include working with people with brain injury and slow stream rehabilitation in young adults with complex nursing care needs.

  • Karen Thomson

    Human Resources Manager

    Karen joined Viewpoint in August 2022 as HR Manager, responsible for all aspects of people development within VHA, which supports the organisation accomplish their vision and strategic objectives to their tenants. 

    Karen is a Chartered Member of the CIPD, graduating from Strathclyde University in Glasgow.  She has worked within the HR field for 23 years and has worked within the Housing field for 19 years.  Starting her career in retail as an HR Assistant, moving on to Scottish Borders Housing Association (SBHA) to develop herself and the roles she held, finally progressing to her current leadership role within Viewpoint.

  • Simon Haile

    Head of Asset Management

    Simon joined Viewpoint in September 2019. He comes with over 25 years’ experience working in the social housing sector in asset management related roles.

    Simon started his career in Rugby Borough Council as a Trainee Maintenance Officer, working his way to become Maintenance Team Leader responsible for asset management functions for around 4,000 properties. He led on a redesign of the authority’s reactive repairs service which became more customer focussed and resulted in target times for customers being reduced whilst resident satisfaction increased.

    Simon’s most recent role in local government was as the Operations Manager for Property at Kettering Borough Council, where he managed the authority’s direct labour workforce.

  • Peter Nisbet

    ICT Manager

    Peter Nisbet joined the Viewpoint team as IT Manager in the summer of 2022. He is responsible for the IT systems at Viewpoint, ensuring that the team has the tools they need to support our tenants and residents. Peter is a graduate of Heriot Watt University and has worked as a web developer. He has 18 years of experience in the social housing sector, where he was previously a System Administrator and System Analyst at Berwickshire Housing Association.

    In his spare time, Peter has chaired the "Berwickshire Marine Reserve", a charity which works to conserve the marine environment along the Berwickshire coast. He was also part of the team that established the independent St Abbs Lifeboat.

     

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